Considering pH-dependent fluorescence of curcuminoids, a microemulsion electrokinetic chromatographic (MEEKC) method was developed under acidic conditions for their separation and detection using laser-induced native fluorescence (LINF), so as to solve the analysis of urine metabolism for curcuminoids. The microemulsion composition was optimized by response surface methodology (RSM), and the effects of buffer pH and organic modifiers were systematically investigated. The optimal buffer for the separation of curcuminoids was chosen as follows: 2.8% (v/v) ethyl acetate, 80 mM SDS and 2.8% (v/v) n-butanol to form microemulsion, 28% (v/v) ethanol as organic modifier, and 20 mM phosphoric acid as electrolyte at pH 3.0. Under these conditions, four curcuminoids including curcumin, demethoxy curcumin (DMC), bisdemethoxy curcumin (BDMC) and demethyl curcumin (DEC) could be well separated within 18 min, and the detection limits (LOD, based on S/N=3) were calculated to be 71, 60, 22, and 147 pg mL-1, respectively. Combined with solid-phase extraction (SPE), the developed MEEKC-LINF method has been successfully applied to continuously monitor the curcuminoids and related metabolites in human urine collected from a healthy volunteer after oral administration of curry, testifying that this method has potential for evaluating the pharmacological activity of curcuminoids.
Keywords: Curcuminoids; Curry; Laser-induced native fluorescence; Microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography; Response surface methodology; Urine metabolism.
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